Teachers in Transition

Teachers in Transition - Episode 120 - Ways for Teachers to Relax During the Summer

July 14, 2021 Kitty Boitnott
Teachers in Transition
Teachers in Transition - Episode 120 - Ways for Teachers to Relax During the Summer
Show Notes Transcript

It's summertime and time for teachers to enjoy their much-deserved time offer to relax and recharge.

If you are a teacher who is having trouble relaxing, you may find this week's episode of "Teachers in Transition" helpful. This week, Kitty shares tips from an article she found by Kalena Baker, and her blog post entitled, "A Summer Checklist for Teachers:  13 Ways to Relax" from Kalena's blog, Teaching Made Practical:  Resources for Upper Elementary.

The link to the article that Kitty shared is https://teachingmadepractical.com/relax/.

Kitty also mentioned that she had free mandalas to offer for adults to color, and they are available at this link:  https://kittyboitnott.lpages.co/opt-in-for-5-mandalas-for-stress-relief/.

And near the end of today's episode, Kitty mentioned that she is offering her DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Jumpstart Your Job Search 2.0 Program to any teacher who is ready to start a job search because they just don't want to go back to the classroom in the fall. The new price for that program is only $297 (down from the original $497) with a payment plan of 4 equal payments of $77 for those who need a budget-friendly plan. The link to the DIY Jumpstart Your Job Search 2.0 Program is here:  https://boitnottcoach.samcart.com/products/diy-jumpstart-your-job-search-20-program/#/sc-checkout.

If you aren't sure that a program like this is right for you, but you are struggling with whether you want to go back in the fall, let's talk. My complimentary Discovery Session is available at this link:  https://teachersintransition.com/calendar.


Speaker 1:

Are you a teacher who's feeling stressed out and overwhelmed. Do you worry that you're feeling symptoms of burnout or are you sure you've already gotten there? Have you started to dream of doing some other kind of job or perhaps pursuing a whole different career, but you don't know what else you're even qualified to do. You don't know how to start a job search. You just feel stuck. If that sounds like you, I promise you're not alone. My name is kitty Boitnott. I'm a career transition and job search coach. And I specialize in helping burn out teachers disliking deal, not only with the stress and overwhelm of your day-to-day job, but to consider what other careers might be out there waiting for you. Join me for teachers in transition. In some episodes, I'll be speaking to stress management techniques and how you can manage your stress on a day to day basis. In other episodes, I'll be talking about career transition. What tools do you need to be successful in a job search when you're moving from one career into a totally different track. These are questions that you need answers to, and I can help you find those answers. My name is kitty. Boitnott welcome to teachers and transition.

Speaker 2:

Welcome back to episode 120 of teachers in transition the podcast and the YouTube channel. My name is Katie[inaudible]. I am the owner of Boitnott coaching, LLC, and the founder of teachers in transition. I am a heart-centered career transition and job search coach who specializes in working with burnout teachers who are ready to make a career change, but don't know how or where to begin. And I'm also a certified stress management and life strategies coach in my weekly podcast and YouTube presentation, I offer alternating topics. When we talking about stress management strategy strategies for teachers and on alternating weeks, talking about career transition strategies for teachers and this week, the topic is stress. So I found an article that I want to share with you, and I will share a give, give kudos to the author. Kaleena baker, who is the author of a blog called teaching, made practical resources for upper elementary. And Kaleena has offered this particular post on a summer checklist for teachers 30, uh, 30 13, 13 ways to relax. There probably are 30, but she's only offering 13. I will offer the link to the blog post at the end of the show notes. And I'm also going to offer another freebie that I have for you because of the strategies for relaxing this summer that she recommends is coloring like for adults. And I happen to have free Mandela's or Mandela's, um, that I offer as a coloring tool that you can use to relax. And de-stress, so I'll provide that at the end of the show notes as well. Some of the others strategies that she mentions in her blog post, or a first of all avoid all those toxic people who will make snide remarks, marks to use snarky remarks about how it must be nice to get paid for your summer or how it must be nice that you don't have to work at three months it's out of the year and that you get paid for time off. Forget those people stay clear. Those people don't pay any attention to those people because they don't get it. They don't understand that you've already worked for the pay that you're getting this summer. And that's assuming that you actually are getting paid. You know, the first couple of summers that I worked back in the day, I didn't get paid. I took my paycheck and 10 installments. And then I was on my own for July and August until school started again in September. And so it's not necessarily true that you're even being paid for your summer. If you are being paid is because you're now being paid. The prorated rate that you didn't get paid fully for during the 10 or 11 months that you were so stay clear those people, even if you explain it to them, they won't get it. It'll just make you mad to don't let them stress you out. Don't pay any attention to them. She also recommends that you take a nap or sleeping or both whenever you feel like it, just because you can. And most importantly, don't make yourself feel guilty about it. Take the time to rest, and you'll have plenty of time later to get all stressed out, not have time to take naps when you would like to, or not to be able to sleep in because you've got to get up to get to work early so that you can do what you need to do to be prepared for your day. So during the summertime, take advantage of the opportunity to get the rest that you need and deserve. She also suggests that it's important for you to take time to laugh. And I can certainly vouch for the importance of this one. I remember it's not been just that a few months ago that I caught myself laughing out loud at a TV show that I hadn't seen for a while. And I realized how long it had been since I had last laughed out loud, we need to do that. I actually felt the endorphins flood through my blood bloodstream. When I had that big deep belly laugh over something silly that was on TV. So what I decided to do from that point was to look for shows that would make me laugh. And I had been successful in that. It's been a project that I make sure that I laugh out loud, at least once every single day and for optimal health, you need to do it more than once to find ways to make you. I find funny, funny things. It will will cause you to giggle or to laugh out loud. You need that to, de-stress already mentioned the coloring book. That's a great way to distress, taking a long lunch now that we are in most places free of COVID restrictions, you can meet your friends for lunch and take extra time. You don't get to do that during the school year. Do you so just take your time, relax, meet at your favorite place and linger over lunch and enjoy it while you're at it. Read a good book that isn't for kids isn't for school isn't for what you're going to be teaching in the fall. Read something that you enjoy because you enjoy it. In my case, I love mysteries. I like the John Baldacci books and the, um, John Grisham books. I love those. And for light stuff, I like that the, um, a to Z series. And I like the Stephanie plum series. They're fun and not very serious, but they make me laugh. So find something that you will enjoy and can lose yourself in whatever that might be for you. She recommends that you can go to an aquarium and that there is a scientific study that proves that watching fish lowers your heart, the, and lowers your blood pressure. So you can even watch, you know, go to an aquarium virtually and watch the fish swam leisurely in their water, and it will help you to relax. So that's something that I probably wouldn't have thought about before. Uh, she suggests you can go on a Netflix binge, and I certainly have done my share of those and have enjoyed every minute of them. She says, you can go to the bathroom anytime you want. So be grateful for that. Pay attention to that. When you can go to the bathroom without feeling guilty or getting someone to cover for you, anytime you want, you don't have to hold it forever. She says you can stay in your pajamas all day if she wants to. And why not? When you have a chance, go get a massage. I've got one coming up. I think the end of this week, come to think of it and I'm forward to it. And if you can't take it, vacations is somewhat someplace exotic. She says, at least do a staycation go somewhere. You know, every location has some kind of historic, a place that you can go to, or, um, a restaurant one all day spa, something that you can do that will allow you to you too. Relax, detox, get grounded again so that when school is ready to start, you are grounded and ready for whatever the school year may bring. And who knows what challenges there may be waiting for. You will, we'll have plenty of time to talk about that between now and when school starts right now. I just want you to be enjoying it summer. I want you to be thinking about ways that you can improve your relationships with your family and friends after a long, uh, a bit of time that you've not been able to see them like you would have wanted to because of COVID and get used to the idea of being back to some semblance of normal. At the same time, I want to urge you to be careful because the, there are variants out there that you need to be mindful of and need to be aware of. You need to continue to pay attention to whatever guidelines that the CDC may be putting out because they can change. Um, you know, without a whole lot of fanfare, depending on what's going on, uh, in, in the world around you. And frankly, the danger of getting sick varies from place to place in the country, depending on the number of people in your community who have been vaccinated. So just be mindful, be aware, stay well, stay healthy and do what you can for yourself too. Relax this summer so that you're fully ready to do whatever your fall may entail. Now, if you are one of those teachers who I have been thinking, I just cannot make myself go back. We need to talk. I have just reduced do it yourself. Version of my jumpstart, your job search 2.0 program to only$297 or a four-part payment plan of$77 for four, four equal payments. You get all of the information that you would get with my coaching program minus the coaching, but all of the information that you need to figure out what it is that you want to do next in your career, and how to create a relevant resume that speaks to the, you want, as opposed to the job you had, how to write a compelling cover letter, how to create a stellar, LinkedIn profile, how to do the networking you need to do to make the kinds of connections you need in order to find people who can hire you or make recommendations for you, offer you references, uh, all the way up to how to interview with poise and confidence and ease. All of that is embedded in the 15 modules and a do it yourself. Version of the jumpstart, your job search 2.0 are going. Now, if you don't know whether the program is right for you, all you need to do is make an appointment for a discovery session. And we can talk about whether or not the program is right for you. It may be that the do it yourself. Version of the program is not enough to help you to be successful. I have other versions of the program, other packages that you can think about purchasing, but if you want to get in on the ground floor and start learning right away at the cheapest price ever that I've offered this particular program,$297 instead of$497 with four equal payments of$77, then perhaps you need to have a conversation with me. I will put the link to my calendar in the show notes, along with all of the other links that I've promised. And that's it for today, please, please, please take care of yourself. Be mindful of the time that you have to relax, as opposed to already getting geared up and fearful or worried about what's going to happen in the fall. Just stay in the moment. That's what coloring can do for you. That's what going to a, an aquarium can do for you. It's what reading a good book can do for you. Stay in the moment and appreciate the time you have right now. Have a wonderful week. Stay well, stay safe. I will see you next week.

Speaker 1:

So there you have it. An episode of teachers and transition. I hope you enjoy the information and I hope you'll plan to come back. Please subscribe to teachers in transition so that you can be alerted of future episodes. And let me know if you have any questions or topics that you would like me to specifically cover in a future episode, I'm more than happy to help with individual questions as well. So email me at kitty boy, not at boys, not coaching.com. If you are interested in finding a new career or just enjoying your life more, this is the place to start. I'm Katie Boitnott and this is teachers and transition.